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The Official DualShock control pad has returned and in great style, the perfect accesory to compliment your new Sony PlayStation 2 console. No originality in the design but we love the old "Triangle, Circle, Square and of course X)

Comfort: 4/5

Not as good as Nintendo GameCubes control for comfort but the DualShock 2 will keep your hands nice and comfy as you blast your on-screen enemys to hell.

Features 4/5

Still business as usual and as we like it, the DualShock 2 is the original PSone controller in black. BUT the analog sticks and all the buttons are pressure sensitive.

Looks 5/5

The controller has lost the shiny finish and is in a lovely black. It is perfectly styled and it won't have to be thrown in a cupboard you'll be proud to keep it sitting next to your TV for everyone to see.

Ease of use: 5/5

This is the best controller to get to grips with you recognise it straight out of the pack, you can reach all the buttons without tearing your fingers to pieces. An absolutely great piece of kit.

Lifespan: 3/5

This is where it loses a few marks, if you use the controller for games which require precision and accuracy then your absolutely fine. However button bashing the DualShock 2 does not like the buttons will not release fully and sometimes stick.

Overall: 4/5

Overall the DualShock 2 is fabulous but it does have one weak point which prevents me from giving it the top marks, nothings ever perfect though, go on BUY IT !!

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Sony's Offical Playstation 2 pad is the only pad you need, don't bother with any third party one's, the pad although similar to the original playstation has subtle differences that makes it no1. To keep in line with the colour choice of the machine and to avoid it getting mistaken for a psx pad it is, u guessed it, BLACK. This pad weights less and has a better grip than it's older brother but the main feature is the pressure sensitive analogue sticks which can register an amazing 256 levels of pressure which opens up a number of choices to developers. Moto gp(released feb 2001) features the pressure sticks and this does greatly enhance the gameplay by giving u far more control than ever before. Gran Turismo 3:A Spec(released in june 2001 in Britain) also has this feature so you can now, if you like drive round the courses at exactly 30 mph. I'm sure many other games will feature this in the future and because you get one with the machine you don't have anything to worry about. Go buy a ps2 now!. p.s I apologise for the abbreviations-addicted to SMS(texting).

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The PlayStation controller was the best available before the PS2 was launched. N64 had a good one, but only stuck on one analogue stick, where as Sony had 2 stuck on their baby. We won't even start on the DC pad... When Sony were looking at improving their pad they didn't want to change it radically and that was good news for gamers. The design of the pad has been stolen by many third-party manufacturers and produced for the PC. Gamers could easily access all the controls without having to have ten double-jointed fingers on each hand a la Dreamcast. All they have done to change the pad is make the D-Pad and symbol buttons analogue, making them sensitive to 256 degrees of pressure. (Why 256? Wouldn't 5 or 6 have done?) The only buttons which haven't been changed on the controller are the shoulder buttons which remain fully digital. One thing they could have done was make the lead a little longer, so that i don't have to sit up while playing TimeSplitters!

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Playstation Dual Shock 2 control pad for the Playstation 2 is an fair pad, but it’s ultimately the same as the previous Playstation dual shock 1 – only it’s black this time! The much hyped, and unsurprisingly disappointing pressure control doesn’t seem to be all that great at all, I must admit that I was unable to play on my PS2 – I don’t have it anymore, but Neil has one – and the control pads aren’t really any different to your PS pads. What does this mean? Well, it means that you should keep your old pads from your PS and use them instead! Obviously you get one with the PS2, so that’s ok, but there isn’t any point in splashing out on a Dual Shock 2 when the Dual Shock 1 – or even standard grey pad – will do fine. The control pad isn’t as good as the Dreamcast’s – or the N64’s as it simply is too small and makes your hands hurt after an hour or so of play. I much prefer - the N64 pad and Dreamcast pad – both offer innovative design features – especially the VMU slot in Dreamcast (two of them) and the Memory slot on the N64’s. The PS2 pad is fine though, and if you never had a PSX then you may as well get a Dual Shock 2, but if you can get hold of the standard Playstation pads then do this, as you’ll save a few quid in the process! The famous four buttons remain of course – it’s the same pad! 3 Stars are given – because Sony did well to keep customers familiar, but there should have been more innovations et al. Jest Please comment on my opinions! Thanks!

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You do already get one of these with your PS2 but you can buy an extra one to play 2 player games with. Duh! :) I think the Playstation controllers look so much better than Dream Cast and N64, simply because they look more cool and not child like with bright coloured buttons. No different to PSone really except the shoulder buttons which are L2 & R2 are alot bigger for you to place your fingers on. Vibrate works well...depending on what your doing it varies from rough vibrate to just slight and will fade away. Just make sure your holding onto it firmly as it can jump out your hand when your least expecting it. Take abit of time to get used to on some games like SSX when its used alot of the time. But for 20 quid I think its excellent value! Again you can get replica ones from Mad Catz which are slightly cheaper. I have never used these so I can't really compare. Alex